Recover Unsaved/Lost/Deleted QuickTime Recordings/Files on Mac
Last Updated on December 8, 2020 by Ian McEwan
“Anyone know how can I recover my unsaved QuickTime recording on Mac? I was recording a work discussion that included many ideas, which is quite important. However, my mac crashed right near the end. When it was restarted, it did not show in the library. Is the temporary file somewhere? Where are QuickTime Player’s temp files stored? Or QuickTime Player just didn’t save my screen recording? Would love some help!”
There are a number of reasons that can lead to the loss of your QuickTime recordings on Mac including a System crash, accidental deletion, unexpected shutdown before stopping the screen recording or virus infection.
This can be very frustrating since you rarely have the time or the patience to re-do them. Luckily, there are ways in which you can recover your unsaved quick time files on mac.
QuickTime Unsaved Recordings Troubleshooting
Apply to QuickTime 6.x/ QuickTime 7.x/ QuickTime 7 Pro/ QuickTime 7.7.4/ QuickTime 7.7.9/ QuickTime 10.5(935.3)
Stage 1. Recover Unsaved QuickTime Recording from QuickTime AutoSave
Procedure to show you where QuickTime Player’s temp files are stored on mac:
Step 1. For recovery of a quick time audio or video recording, go to your desktop and press Cmd+Shift+G to launch the “Go To Folder” box. It should open up a go-to command. You should type the following command:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/Data/Library/Autosave Information/
or copy and paste it instead.
Step 2. Immediately you press return, you will be directed deep into QuickTime’s directory. There you will find automatically saved files.
Such as:
Com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX.plist
Unsaved QuickTime Player Document.qtpxcomposition
Unsaved QuickTime Player Document 2.qtpxcomposition
Unsaved QuickTime Player Document 3.qtpxcomposition
,etc.
Step 3. Search for items related to QuickTime. There might be a lot of files so viewing them in the List view might be a good way to sort them.
Step 4. These saved QuickTime files will contain the words “unsaved” or “QuickTime” and “lost” in the title.
According to “Date Modified”, “Size”, “Kind”, you can surely find out the latest modified file with .qtpxcomposition extension is the Unsaved QuickTime Recording you are looking for.
Step 5. Simply select and right click the file> click the Show Package Contents option> Drag the Screen Recording .mov/ Audio Recording.m4a file to your desktop or any convenient Finder location for normal uses access.
Some of the files might be large hence they might need third-party apps like Filmora to open in case of QuickTime crash again.
P.S. If you prefer to locate the Unsaved QuickTime file from your Macintosh HD folder in Finder, don’t forget to press Command+Shift+Dot to show you hidden Library folder so that you can find folders like Containers, com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX, Data, Library, Autosave Information step by step.
So far, you have learned how to recover unsaved QuickTime recording from QuickTime AutoSave. Then you can jump to Stage 3 directly and learn how to protect your Quick Recording or other important on mac next time. However, if you are out of luck, using a QuickTime Recovery tool seem to be a good idea.
Stage 2. Recover Unsaved/Lost/Deleted QuickTime Files with Data Recovery
If QuickTime didn’t save your file and the “Autosave Information” folder is empty, or the temp file is truncated or corrupted because of the frozen, crashed, unexpectedly shut down QuickTime, you can get unsaved or lost QuickTime recordings by using Aiseesoft Mac Data Recovery software.
It will help you recover lost or deleted files from various storage devices such as flash drives, hard drives, and memory cards. No matter the cause of the data loss, this powerful recovery tool will help you find them with ease.
Steps to Recover Unsaved/Lost/Deleted QuickTime Files from a Macintosh HD
Step 1. Download and Launch Aiseesoft in Mac Data Recovery mode.
Step 2. Select the data type and disk drive.
The software helps you recover any file type like document, email, audio, image and more. Therefore, when you get to the main interface, you should begin with choosing the data type you want to recover first. You can then choose the disk drives containing the lost files.
In this case, tick “Audio” or “Video” and your Macintosh HD, then click Scan.
Step 3. You can either choose to quick scan or deep scan the data on the chosen disk drive.
Step 4. When you are done scanning, all lost files will be listed in the interface.
Use the “filter” feature to easily find the files you want to recover. In case you fail to locate your missing data, click “deep scan” and try again. Although it will take more time to complete the scanning process, when it is done, it will provide you with all possible results that can be restored.
Step 5. To get all your selected files back to your computer, simply click the “Recover” button.
Stage 3. How to Prevent Loss of Data after Recovering Unsaved QuickTime Recording
In order to avoid having to go through all that to recover unsaved QuickTime recording, you can follow some steps to make sure your data is always secure. These include:
- Saving and backing up your files regularly. Time Machine is the best choice for mac user to save your data.
- Leave the files you do not recognize alone.
- Putting in place a backup when you notice signs of hard drive failure.
- Use other professional Screen Recording tool.